Is there some way for me to simply "re-initialize" SharePoint Foundation Search in 2010?

Simply clicking on the SharePoint Foundation Search in Central Admin -> Services on Server yields: Object reference not set to an instance of an object... I can't do anything with it via Central admin, attempts to start it or modify its settings give me that error. Nothing in the ULS log, nothing in the event log.

I can execute Get-SPSearchService / Get-SPSearchServiceInstance and see some results. Is there some way to just wipe it and start over -- without affecting the web application I've built?

I was simply trying to get the search functionality working and I have somehow made things worse in that now Central Admin will have nothing to do with the SharePoint Foundation Search service...

EDIT -

I rebooted and now get a slightly better error message:

Some or all identity references could not be translated.

I am trying to update the managed account and the crawl account but am unable to do so via Central Admin -- I've tried the following to no avail: